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Just a very grand servant?

KOFI ANNAN: A Man of Peace in a World of War by Stanley Meisler, Wiley £19.99

THE BEST INTENTIONS: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American Power by James Traub, Bloomsbury £20

Once, during the flight back from a peacemaking mission to Sudan, Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, took a moment to discuss the growing crisis in Darfur with James Traub, a New York Times magazine journalist who spent a year in his company, and has now produced an excellent, nuanced portrait of Annan in action. Sudan's problems, the secretary-general explained, required an "African" solution, "emphasising the country's special responsibility as the geographically largest nation on the continent". Annan claimed that Omar el-Bashir, the Sudanese leader, had been swayed by this argument: "He seemed to understand that if he wants to come out and join the family of nations and open up to investments, he needs